WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten Republicans will compete in a special primary election Tuesday to replace the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on South Carolina's general election ballot. The candidates running to replace him include two congressmen, a former governor and Graham’s sister, now a U.S. senator appointed to serve out the final months of his current term.
Lindsey Graham won the June 9 Republican primary for renomination to the seat he first won in 2002, but his unexpected death on July 11 from an aortic tear created a vacancy not only for his current U.S. Senate seat but also for his spot on the November ballot as the party’s pick to compete for another six-year term.
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to fill her brother’s vacant seat, has President Donald Trump’s endorsement to compete in the general election as the new Republican nominee. Among those challenging her in the special primary are U.S. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, former Gov. Mark Sanford and business owner Mark Lynch, who ran against Lindsey Graham in the June 9 primary.
Norman recently sought the nomination for governor and placed third in the primary.
If no candidate receives a vote majority in the special primary, the top two vote-getters will advance to a special primary runoff on Aug. 25.
The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician who challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in the 2022 general election.
Lindsey Graham last won reelection in 2020 with 54% of the vote. Trump carried the state in the 2024 presidential election with 58% of the vote.
Greenville County is the most populous in the state and typically contributes the most votes in statewide Republican primaries. It also has a bit of an independent streak. In the June 9 primary, a plurality of Greenville County voters preferred Lynch over Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate race and Norman over the two candidates who would advance to the runoff for governor.
Democratic-leaning Richland and Charleston counties have the next-largest populations and contribute a sizable number of votes in Republican primaries, but they tend to be more influential in Democratic contests.
Horry, Lexington and Spartanburg counties are also large counties that have big impacts on Republican primaries. Spartanburg was the only other county where Lynch outperformed Lindsey Graham in the June primary.
Besides Greenville County, Norman also was the top vote-getter in York County and three smaller neighboring counties, all in his 5th Congressional District, in the June gubernatorial primary.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:
Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in the special Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Voters who participated in the Democratic primary on June 9 may not participate in the special Republican primary on Tuesday. Only Republican primary voters or registered voters who did not participate in any party’s primary may cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.
As of Friday, there were about 3.4 million registered voters in South Carolina. Voters in South Carolina do not register by party.
About 465,000 voters cast ballots in the June 9 Republican U.S. Senate primary in which Lindsey Graham was renominated. About 319,000 voters participated in the June 23 Republican gubernatorial primary runoff.
About 29% of the vote in the June 9 Republican state primary was cast early in person or by mail.
As of Friday, about 42,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.
Nearly all of South Carolina’s 46 counties release all or almost all of their early in-person and mail voting results in the first vote update of the night, usually before releasing any results from in-person Election Day voting.
In the June 9 primary election, the AP first reported results at 7:22 p.m. ET, or 22 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 12:19 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
In South Carolina, recounts are automatic if the margin between the winning and losing candidates is 1% of the total vote or less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
As of Tuesday, there will be 84 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., left, and former Gov. Mark Sanford say the Pledge of Allegiance ahead of a candidate event days before the special South Carolina Republican primary to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks with voters following a Senate candidate stump event ahead of a special GOP primary to select a replacement for her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Lexington, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduces Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the nomination Lunday for Commandant of the Coast Guard, Nov. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Encouraging customers to mend worn clothes instead of buying new ones might seem like a self-defeating sales strategy. But in-store repairs and sewing workshops are becoming essential retail services for clothing brands as they try to appeal to young consumers who want to save money and the planet.
While luxury fashion houses and select specialty retailers like Patagonia and L.L. Bean have offered product repairs for decades, the concept has caught on. Jeans giant Levi Strauss & Co., casual wear chain Uniqlo and budget retailer Primark are a few of the apparel companies hoping to win over Generation Z shoppers with a needle and thread.
Levi's created a handstitching course for high school students after determining that many members of Gen Z lacked the sewing skills to match their interest in thrift store shopping and sustainability. Employees spend 90 minutes instructing teenagers on four tasks: sewing on a button, hemming, patching a hole and fixing a tear.
The Wear Longer program, which the San Francisco-based company is expanding across the U.S., builds on the repair and customization services Levi's offers at hundreds of stores worldwide.
“We think it’s important to empower the people who buy our clothes with the skill sets to maintain them, to get them to that second life,” Paul Dillinger, Levi's head of global design innovation, said.
Detroit resident Chloe Halprin, 25, is the kind of consumer retailers hope to attract with a “fix it, don’t ditch it” message.
In high school, Halprin shopped at inexpensive, trendy stores. Fixing a big rip felt beyond her limited sewing ability. If she damaged a top or skirt from Forever 21, “I might just throw it away."
These days, Halprin buys most of her clothes secondhand. She recently learned to hem with a sewing machine and hopes to tackle projects like turning a skirt into a shirt.
“I try to be conscientious of my carbon footprint,” Halprin, a nonprofit grant writer, said. "I really don’t like waste. I’m trying to save money as well.”
The evolution of mending from an economic necessity and traditional craft to a method for cultivating customers didn't happen overnight. The fashion industry as a whole has come under intensifying pressure to reduce its contributions to environmental pollution and climate change.
Textile waste — which includes manufacturing remnants, unwanted clothes and linens, and unsold products — is one of the industry's most pressing challenges. Each year, the world generates fabric waste at a rate equivalent to a garbage truck's worth getting dumped or incinerated every second, the United Nations Environment Program estimates.
Researchers broadly agree that repairing and reselling clothes can reduce a garment’s environmental impact, especially if it delays or replaces a new purchase. But many caution the practices remain too limited to offset continued growth in clothing production and consumption.
Clothing production roughly doubled between 2000 and 2015, while the average number of wearings per garment declined by about 36%, according to figures compiled by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The sustainability nonprofit estimated that less than 1% of discarded clothing material got recycled into new apparel.
Enter Generation Z, the cohort born between 1997 and 2012. It's the generation that grew up with fast fashion and e-commerce, then had school years and young adulthoods shaped by the coronavirus pandemic and post-pandemic inflation.
Whether due to limited budgets or a rejection of materialism, Gen Z has helped the preowned clothing market grow much faster than retail apparel sales in the U.S., independent market intelligence firm GlobalData estimated in a report with resale platform ThredUp.
For companies that make new clothes, mending programs and classes address “some deeper consumer needs and consumer behaviors at the moment," GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders said.
“It puts a halo on the brand,” he said.
The hands-on response from mass-market retailers, especially fast-fashion chains like Primark, Zara and H&M, has generated interest as well as skepticism.
Zara, which has its headquarters in Spain, launched a digital platform in 2022 for customers to resell their used pieces and to request basic alterations and repairs. The program is available in 17 of the nearly 100 countries where the trend-driven retailer operates.
Ireland-based Primark has focused more on customer education. The value-focused retailer hosts free “Love It For Longer” events where customers are taught skills like replacing zippers and buttons.
“Learning how to repair and care for clothing is probably one of the most simplest but absolutely totally effective ways that we can reduce waste and also extend the lifetime of whatever we buy,” Vicki Swain, Primark’s product longevity & partnership lead, said.
The company has held the workshops — more than 730 altogether — in nine of the 17 countries where Primark has stores, including the U.S. Primark also tested in-store repairs at three U.K. locations this year.
Swain argues that affordable clothes can be just as durable and repair-worthy as more expensive ones. Half the items Primark sells annually are basics like socks, underwear, T-shirts, and jeans, she said.
“There is nothing throw away about our products,” Swain said.
Uniqlo, which focuses on timeless wardrobe staples, offers a range of aftercare services, including repairs, decorative sashiko mending, embroidery and creative restyling.
Available in 75 of the Japanese mass-market retailer’s roughly 2,500 stores worldwide, the services are promoted as a national extension of the product life cycle. Providing them also strengthens Uniqlo’s connection with customers, said Jean-Emmanuel Shein, director of global corporate responsibility at Uniqlo USA.
Kate Fletcher, a professor of sustainability, design and fashion systems at Manchester Metropolitan University in England, said she thinks the repair initiatives of popular retailers are well-meaning, but she doubts they will have much environmental impact.
“The fashion sector’s primary source of impact is due to the overproduction of pieces and growing volumes of garments created,” Fletcher said. “Repairing a garment in store happens in addition to these growing production volumes, not instead of them.”
The question facing the fashion industry is whether repairs can evolve from niche service to commercially viable.
Sweden's H&M Group, which has more than 4,000 stores in over 80 countries, has been unusually candid about one of the biggest obstacles: the economics. The company has argued that repair and resale are desirable goals, but manufacturing new garments costs businesses less than keeping existing ones in use.
H&M experimented with mending and redesign studios in several European flagship stores over the past decade. The company also is majority owner of a secondhand clothing platform called Sellpy.
In May, H&M joined Primark, ThredUp and dozens of other fashion and textile businesses in signing a statement that urged governments in North America and the European Union to adopt tax policies that would make repairing and reselling clothes profitable.
Making mending work in retail is challenging because it's labor intensive and must be priced low enough to entice customers, Saunders, of GlobalData, said. Signals from consumers also are mixed, he said.
“I think younger shoppers still shop fast fashion because even though it goes against some of their principles, it is one of the most accessible parts of the market," Saunders said. "But what they’re doing as well, though, is they’re buying into alternative channels like resale. And they’re having things repaired.”
Ava Trujillo practices attends a clothing repair workshop at a Levi's retail store in downtown San Francisco, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Levi’s employee Ella Fassler Clausen teaches during a sewing workshop at a Levi's retail store in downtown San Francisco, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Genaro Ruiz sews clothing during a clothing repair workshop at a Levi's retail store in downtown San Francisco on July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Levi’s employees teach students during a sewing workshop at a Levi's retail store in downtown San Francisco, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Jesse Sanchez practices sewing during a clothing repair workshop at a Levi's retail store in downtown San Francisco, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
